REC BMS NEWS

Find out what is happening in REC
and what are we up to....

Taking Care of Your Energy Storage in WinterJanuary, 2018

Winter time offers lots of winter joy, especially when there is a lot of snow fall. After each storm there is always sunshine :).
The days are "shorter" and there is usually higher energy consumption and less green energy production, but nevertheless with proper handling your
home storage system should function properly even during snowy winter.
If you have solar power plant on your rooftop, make sure it is not covered by heavy snow fall. If it is easily accesible brush it off with broom or some soft tool.
Don't use heavy tools or hard shovel, you may scratch or damage them permanently. In case your solar panels are on rooftop or not that-easily-accessible, don't worry,
the sun will take care of it by melting the snow from your panels on its own.

Extreme cold temperatures can be very hard on your battery pack. See the battery manufacturer's datasheet for details of your battery behaviour during low temperatures charge condition. We don't recommend to use
fast charging at low temperatures, since the internal impedance of battery cells is much higher. If possible keep battery pack in a dry place indoors, with temperatures above freezing.
Battery's available capacity decreases with lower temperature (75 to 85 % of total capacity @ freezing level). Check system parameters frequently with
LCD touch display for REC BMS
or use multi-meter to check your cells voltage (if you are not using REC BMS).
If you are not using your battery pack in winter time (e.g. hybrid/electric boat, summer cotage, etc.) it is best to charge the battery pack up to 50 % and disconnect it from the system.
Don't fully charge or discharge it, since the chemistry in this cases is more active and therefore it can shorten the battery life.

Enjoy winter time and promote reasonable energy usage.

Energy Storage MonthNovember, 2017

Energy storage is one of the fastest growing markets in Europe (and around the Globe) and it offers opportunities for new development,
new technologies and greener future. For starters watch Bloomberg's video and scroll down to find our customers' ideas of how to make DIY energy storage at home.
We would also like to hear your story. Share it with us @ info@rec-bms.com or on Facebook.

This summer REC Team with association of Metron Institut
started a project of electric car conversion out of curiosity. We decided to use Smart ForTwo 450 with internal gas-combustion engine.
Our mission was to GO GREEN and make an old car new again by converting it to electric vehicle. We have used powerful three-phase asynchronous motor from Mahle Letrika and LG Chem battery cells equipped with
our state-of-the-art REC BMS Master-Slave configuration. The battery pack is located in a metal box at the very
bottom of the vehicle where the battery space has already been provided in the original Smart design from 1998. Such position lowers the center of gravity and allows more stability of a car when driving.
With cells configuration of 5P18S, we have managed to get the range of 160 km. We kept 6-speed gearbox fully functional as before, to make driving more enjoyable.
To control the power and to keep track of all parameters, battery status and possible errors we have integrated our
REC LCD touch display.

REC BMS Master-Slave configuration, with all its compatible components

Our version of service battery pack (12 V) in EVPostojna, Slovenia, August 2017

Since we have put our electric converted car Smart to weight loss, we have made our own version of 12 V battery pack to replace the existing service lead-acid battery.
The 12 V lithium battery pack is comprised of 4 series connected cells, controlled by our state-of-the-art REC Active BMS
(with active cell charge balancing). Compared to existing lead-acid battery we have managed to "slim" our Smart by 10 kg, which is 1.5 % of its total weight. Impressive?
Share your thougths on our new Facebook page .

REC Smart in the making Postojna, Slovenia, August 2017

Another great project coming to life = REC Smart... Presenting soon...

Kranvaj - Electric Vehicle in KranjKranj, Slovenia, April 2017

Kranvaj - a new acquisition of City of Kranj, is a great example of sustainable form of urban transport. It offers free ride through the city center of Kranj and its vicinity.
This cute electric minibus has 15 kWh installed battery power controlled by REC BMS Master-Slave configuration.
Hop on @ www.kranj.si

Ampd Energy Storage ProjectHong Kong, February 24th - March 7th, 2017

The inventions packed in this white good-looking box are coming to life at Ampd Energy creating advanced
and dependable energy storage solution for home, commercial and industrial applications. Powered using lithium-ion batteries and equipped with
Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) capabilities, the Ampd Silo aims to replace backup diesel generators and lead acid UPSs.

Specially developed REC BMS units, which can act as slave or stand-alone units, are controled by Master(piece) with
sofisticated software that adds the brain to the whole system, making it almost think for itself. All measurments, communication and protection
(including contactor) are already implemented on PCB board itself and its special design makes it fit each ESM unit perfectly
to make the assembly fast and easy.

Ampd Energy was also shortlisted as one of 4 finalists in Engadgets best CES2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) start-up
in Las Vegas, USA. To put this into context, there were over 580 start-up companies in Eureka Park. We are proud to be a part of Ampd Silo!

Fascinating cute little utility vehicle is driving around Zagreb (Croatia) with zero emissions.
With intentions of public service and the range of 100 km it can take care of cleaner streets litteraly the whole day and do its job without and drawbacks.
This is the initiative and a pilot project of company KOMOP for making utility vehicles,
which are in service of cleaner environment, acctually environmentaly friendly.
We are happy to be a part of this project with integrated REC Q BMS system.

World Gliding Championship is currently taking place in Benalla, Australia, where Slovenian gliding team is taking part with impressive sailplanes equiped with
FES and (REC BMS of course :).
Among our top Slovenian glider pilots is also our valuable business partner Luka Znidarsic (LZ design) who was awarded with
OSTIV (International Scientific and Technical Soaring Organisation) prize 2017 for his contribution
to develop a simple electric powered propulsion system, FES (Front Electric Sustainer).
Big congrats to Luka and his whole LZ design team! We are keeping our fingers crossed for the best results in World Championship!

We enjoyed this year's Electronica fair in Munich: meeting our business partners in person, playing football with suppliers, and even dealing with pirates - tough job! We couldn't hide the excitement
seeing our products integrated in our customer's final projects. Looking forward to visit Electronica 2018.

REC BMS InstallationAustralia, October 30th, 2016

It is our pleasure to share very impressive motorhome conversion from one of our customers in Australia. Thanks to our business partner Solar 4 RVs
who helped him with valuable advice to get everything set up and working.
This 11-meter motorhome conversion has 8 x 1000 Ah Winston cells (24 V) with two Victron Quattro 24 V, 3000 VA inverter chargers. On the roof there are 10 x 327 W Sunpower panels mounted and another 6 panels on the trailer
for the 4x4, all in total of 5.2 kW peak, with 3 x Victron 100/50 charge controllers. Impressive and well done! Enjoy the picks...

We would love to take a vacation ride in this good-looking house on wheels. Thank you all for sharing your experience with us.

REC Master-SlaveOctober 21st, 2016

Remember this post on Twitter: "Our head of development just brought out of R&D dept. another piece of electronics in a new black box... Hm, what could that be?"

After months of development, we present the new REC Master unit that controls new REC BMS for energy storage in UPS Power Systems especially developed for one of our valuable business partners.

EMC TestSeptember 9th, 2016

Our new version of REC Q BMS has passed the EMC tests with "excellence".
We are proud of this little black box :)

LCD touch display for REC BMSAugust 25th, 2016

Our current project is upgrading our LCD touch display to 3.5". You'll be glad to hear we're adding new features such as charge current and charge voltage control for more interaction with REC BMS.

Customer feedbackAugust 10th, 2016

At REC we value our customers and try our best to adjust to their needs, so if you have any questions or you need more information, please send us a message/inquiry @ our Home or Contact page.

Another great REC Q BMS application from an inspirational young team of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. They attended the CARNET fair, an event related to the electric mobility and smart cities world,
to present e-Ride ETSEIB’s project - powerful motorcycle equiped with REC Q BMS.

Well done! Congrats!

Battery UniversityJune 3rd, 2016

You are kindly invited to join us on 11th Developer Forum Battery Technologies from 28th - 30th June in Poland.

On this year’s 1,600 kilometers/1,000 mile route we are guaranteed to have another fun experience. Join us in our mission: ZERO EMISSION!

ELECTRIC BUS VIVOMaribor, March 5th, 2016

The highest voltage system equiped with REC BMS Master-slave configuration so far:
210 cells in series, 14 Slave 15S units and one 9M module for Master control...
Yes, we are proud to equip first electric bus in Slovenia.

The electric and solar aviation is on. To cross the Atlantic nonstop and without carbon footprint, this is the ERAOLE project. It is equipped with TYVA MODULOO battery packs manufactured by
TYVA ENERGY. The plane was presented at Le Bourget in the climate conference COP 21. Its first transatlantic flight attempt
from New York to Paris is scheduled for June 2016.

REC Active BMS in Kedron CaravanAustralia, February 1st, 2016

One of our great customers has provided a photo of Sinopoly cells and REC Active BMS installed in his Kedron Caravan.
The BMS shuts down the Sterling DC-DC converter and Morningstar MPPT charger in the event of an overvoltage – via an interface module. Also, a Votronic Switch Unit is controlled by the BMS to disconnect the load
in the event of an undervoltage. Installation was made by our valuable business partner in Australia Solar 4 RVs.

Thank you all for sharing your experience with us.

REC SI BMS ApplicationYasawa Island, Fiji, December 2nd, 2015

Another great REC BMS application from our valuable costumer from FIJI - the 30kW installation of pure solar power with SMA Sunny Islands and compatible REC SI BMS.

Since our more advanced products are taking spotlight in managing various battery systems and fullfilling customers every requirement, we believe it is time to end
the production of our REC BMS 7R series. It can be replaced by its newer versions REC 9R and REC Q
series, which have already integrated CAN communication protocol and galvanically isolated user defined multi-purpose inputs/outputs.

We are proud to announce that we have been chosen to participate in 10th Slovenian Innovation Forum with our innovative product
REC Active BMS.

You are kindly invited to visit us in Sempeter pri Novi Gorici on 17th and 18th November, 2015.

Advanced lithium batteries which are substituting traditional 12 V lead batteries offer more charging cycles, have better energy and power density and can deliver up to six times more energy
for the same price in comparison to lead batteries. 12 V lithium battery pack is comprised of four series connected cells.
Additional electronics is required to protect each cell against over-charging, under-charging, over-heating, etc…
Company REC d.o.o. has developed high-tech solution for substituting 12 V lead batteries with lithium cells - REC Active BMS.
Covering all necessary protections REC BMS is the first of its kind on the market with active cell balancing.
Energy from the highest cells is transferred to the lowest cells with high efficiency (no energy dissipation).
REC Active BMS can be connected to PC or LCD touch display. Battery pack with our technology lasts longer, is more efficient and informs the user about its current state.

We are happy with our successful participation at 10th Slovenian Innovation Forum. Thank you all for visiting us!

The World Technology Summit and Awards 2015New York, October 20th, 2015

On November 19th-20th in New York City, many of the most innovative people and organizations in the science and technology world will join together for
a historic gathering - the 2015 World Technology Summit & Awards; to explore what is imminent, possible, and important in and around emerging technologies;
and to create the kinds of serendipitous relationships that create the future.
See more at: www.wtn.net/summit-2015

Congratulations to Slovenian innovator Andrej Pečjak for becoming a FINALIST in category Environment 2015!
We are keeping our fingers crossed!

Andrej made an impact on World Techology Summit 2015 in New York with his presentation, when he said: "Where there is a will, there's always a way." See why... and read the article (in Slovene) and watch
his presentation (in English) on World Technology Summit at: www.siol.net

Our customer experience with REC BMSGermany, 13th of August, 2015

"I had been planning to develop and install a solar plant that fits the energy requirements of my household since months.
The goal was to make the own power consumption of solar energy as high as possible.

On April 7th this year my plant started to generate energy from solar radiation. At this time the installation consisted only of panels with a total power of 3,64kWp
and the inverter (SMA Sunny Boy 3000TL-21). Knowing the power pattern consumption of my household it was clear that I have to extend my installation with some kind of energy storage to reach my goal.
After some calculation and reading I decided to build an energy storage on my own. My first decision was the battery inverter (SMA Sunny Island 3.0M-11). I have chosen SMA because the
charging/feeding algorithm is well developed and the Sunny Island works very good together with the Sunny Boy/Home Manager.

The next thing was finding the right battery/cell. For this I defined some conditions: temperature range -15°C up to +45°C (energy storage will be located in a none conditioned environment),
lifecycle > 10 years, no liquids inside the cell and fast charging. This conditions led me to the Winston/Thundersky LiFeYPO4-cells. The advantages of these cells are: wide temperature range
in charging/discharging mode, charging with 0,5C, >5000 cycles. But these cells are very very sensitive regarding the cell voltage. Exceeding or underrunning the voltage limits will damage the cell.

At this point the REC BMS was coming up. I’ve read on internet user forums, that a guy from Norway built an energy storage with used Li-cells from a Nissan Leaf, SMA Sunny Island and a BMS from a Slovenian
company called REC. That was exactly what I searched for! A BMS that communicate important parameters, like max charging current and cell voltage, with the Sunny Island.

Ordering the BMS and delivering it to Germany worked like a charm. I received the BMS 9R preconfigured with the right settings and a firmware update. Installation and configuration was very easy.

I finished my work on July 19th this year. The result is an energy storage with 5,7kWh (C10, 100%) overall capacity. The storage consists 15 cells Winston LYP100AHA. With this storage I have reached my goal
(at least in summer). From July 19th until the time of writing this article I have only bought 1kWh energy from my utility company (thanks to this perfect summer!).

Let's see how it works in winter, I'm curious."

Matthias Siebenhaar

WAVE 2015 Official FilmLeipzig, 6th of August, 2015

The Official Film of WAVE 2015 is out! Take a look at the experiences, adventures and the roads of this years WaveTrophy! Enjoy your watch!

The system is also available in Master - Slave configuration for 16 cells connected in series.

NEW REC Active BMS Postojna, November 26th, 2014

We are proud to announce our new product REC Active BMS for 4 cells connected in series with active bi-directional balancing, which will be available in January 2015.

Long-term development now enables us to present to you this excellent device, proven in various real life test conditions, latest technology of electronic components and unbeatable balancing algorithms. As a single stand-alone unit it is perfect for 12 V systems, where there is a need for replacing lead-acid batteries with lithium battery cells.

With REC Active BMS your battery package will stay in safe operating conditions and because of diverse communication possibilities (integrated CAN and RS485 protocol)
you will be able to connect with all system devices. Plus user friendly PC interface or LCD touch display will always help you to stay in control of your power at all times.

We support Initiative Start-Up Slovenia, for globally competitive national start-up ecosystem. Make a difference with your great idea! Read an article about our new inovative product REC Active BMS on: www.startup.si (only in Slovene).

INSTITUTE METRON Bled, October 11th, 2014

Another great achievement from our business partner Institute Metron. The team drove 736 km in electric car Metron 7 without charging. They took a route in normal traffic conditions from Bled (SLO) to Dubrovnik (CRO).
Read the whole story at www.eauto.si or watch the video:

Expedition to Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, August, 2014

The alpinistic expedition of Primorska took an exciting adventure of conquering peaks of Kyrgyzstan in August. We provided the expedition with EnerPlex Solar Chargers.
Congratulations for all alpinistic achievements!

Happy Birthday REC :) Postojna, July 6th, 2014

Yes, we are still here! Today we are celebrating our 5th anniversary... Check out some pics from our birthday event... Thanks to all our business partners for support and great cooperation. We are looking forward to introduce to you even more inovations and electronic solutions for greener future. Contact us on: info@rec-bms.com

"Irena and I just returned from an overnight trip in our new plane, our first experience traveling in it. We set our goal to be easy, only 100 miles away, and in the conditions we could have flown twice that far, both ways. Climbing over the clouds on our way, we enjoyed a tailwind at altitude, and arrived in less than 3 hours.

We had to chose over the clouds or under, and flew some of each. Over the clouds is smooth air and full sun for the solar panels, but our path could be blocked by towering cumulus, that we could not climb over. Under the clouds we were likely to encounter turbulence, downdrafts, lots of shadows and high terrain, so we tried to stay on top as much as possible. Better conditions for a solar powered airplane.

On the radio we quickly located of host Gianluca, who was flying a Duo Discus sailplane with a student under the clouds. After flying with him for a while, we decided to go explore the high peaks to the south, which still have some snow in mid-June.

Landing at Pavullo was easy, and familiar to me, as I had landed here in 2009 in the single seat SUNSEEKER. The next morning we awoke to strong NW winds, that would be a headwind to get home. We bought some fruit and decided to try to make the flight back against the wind. The air was turbulent in the area of the airport because of the wind, but after we gained some altitude it was smooth sailing, and we made the flight back home in 3 hours despite the headwind. Since it turned out to be so easy, we continued on toward Genoa, hoping to get a nice view of the sparkling Mediterranean, but it was covered in low clouds. Still we had some nice local flying and saw two other gliders in the air.

Irena landed the SUNSEEKER DUO back at Voghera without problems, despite the turbulent air."

Eric Raymond

Thank you for sharing this amazing adventure with us! Congratulations!

WAVE TROPHY 2014 Rigi, June 7th, 2014

Winning the range competition on WAVE 2014! Congratulations Team Metron!

WAVE TROPHY 2014 Munich, June 3rd, 2014

Congrats to Team Metron! Third day of driving without charging on WAVE 2014!

Today, the company Solar Flight Inc. announced that husband and wife team Eric and Irena Raymond have taken to the skies together, making the Duo the first solar-powered airplane to carry two people! Congrats!

Team Metron is attending the world's largest electric vehicle rally, leading from Stuttgart via Bavaria and around Switzerland to Lucerne in 9 days. Today they set the NEW GUINESS WORLD RECORD with 493 pure electric vehicles gathering in front of Mercedes Benz museum. A great step into the future...

Solar Flight revealed today that it has been test flying a new solar powered airplane; Sunseeker Duo. The Duo is the first solar powered airplane with a passenger seat and the highest performing solar powered airplane ever flown, and it is equiped with REC BMS.
Congrats to Eric and Irena Raymond!Read the full story or watch the test flight video:

SiEVA testing Šempeter pri Novi Gorici, March 24th, 2014

Lots of inovation is going on in SiEVA laboratory (part of Letrika company)... Proud of testing 340 V EV power train with REC BMS - working perfectly :)

CONGRATULATIONS to Metron Team, for 2nd place on WAVE (World Advanced Vehicle Expedition) - 1800 km race, it is the world’s largest electric vehicle rally: http://eauto.si/en/wave-2013

Best Business Idea of 2012/13 Ljubljana, May 29th, 2013

The final countdown to tonight's event in Ljubljana... Electro Kit for the Honda Motors project with Mr. Boris Pfeifer as a conceptual leader and the cooperation with other business partners ranked us between 10 finalists for the Best Business Idea of 2012/13. Whatever the outcome tonight, we are happy to be a part of this story.

Global Show for Aviation 2013 Friedrichshafen, April 24th-27th, 2013

Our business partners are taking over on the Global Show for General Aviation.
REC is extremely proud to equip seven aircrafts exhibiting the show.

REC Solar Charger Tunisia, March 29th, 2013

Our new product in hands of an adventurers...

REC Solar Charger has travelled throughout the outskirts of Sahara desert with a group of journalists on motorcycles. Their motorbikes may have run out of fuel, but their gadgets never ran out of batteries...
...and the journalist's job was well done.

Rally Monte Carlo Monte Carlo, March 24th, 2013

Mr. Andrej Pecjak and his Metron Team won !two! 1st places on the 14th Rally Monte Carlo des Energies Nouvelles 2013 with converted electric car Dacia Sandero. We are extremely proud of our partner Metron Institute who won a prestigious rally in Monte Carlo in two
categories:
* 1st place in consumption and
* 1st place in IIIA category.

Congratulations!

Interview in Auto Magazin Slovenia Postojna, February 10th, 2013

Read (in Slovene) the interview in Avto Magazin with our head of development Mr. Tine Andrejasic, Ph.D.

REC BMS 15S in Honda's CRM50 Koper, February 1st, 2013

Proud to equip HM CRM50 Derapage Competition in partnership with eCAT and Pfeifer Invent Systems. Check out the video and the interview in Moto Magazin.